Method and system for combining text and voice messages in a communications dialogue

ABSTRACT

This publication discloses a method for delivering messages in a telecommunications network ( 1, 2, 6, 11, 12 ). In the method, the first text-form message ( 40 ) of the session N is delivered ( 43 ) to the user of the service, in such a way that the sender address (e.g., the A number) is converted to correspond to the session number N and the session stage J, in stages  2 - n  ( 41 ) of the session N, a text-form message ( 40 ) is received, from the user of the message service, at the sender address defined in the message in the previous stage, and the session proceeds according to the contents of the message ( 40 ), in such a way that the sender address (e.g., the A number) is converted to correspond to the session number N and the new session stage J, and the next text-form message of session N is sent to the user of the message service. According to the invention, in some stage of the session N, a voice message is received ( 42 ), from the user of the message service, at the sender address of the message defined in the message ( 40 ) in the previous stage, or at an address contained in the message, and the session proceeds according to the content of the message ( 40 ), and if necessary, the next text-form message of the session N is sent to the user of the message service, in such a way that the sender address (e.g., the A number) is converted to correspond to the session number N and the new session stage J.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and a method for combiningtext and voice messages in a communications dialogue.

Methods and systems of this kind are used, for example, for implementingtext-message based booking services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

According to the prior art, message dialogues are implemented purely ona text-message basis. A message dialogue may break, if it has beenwished to make contact in the dialogue with the aid of a voice message,such as a voice call. The dialogue has had no support for voicemessages, instead the voice message has remained an event external tothe dialogue.

In addition, according to the prior art, bulk deliveries of e-mailmessages have been implemented from a number inside operators' networksusing Content Gateway technology. The delivery address of the ContentGateway bulk-delivery technology on the network side is not a familiartelephone number, which has the form +358 400 123 456, but is a shortservice number, which is not a real telephone number, but instead, forexample 16400. Because it is not a real network number, it also cannotroam from one network to another, but goes directly to the contentgateway of the operator in question. In the present document, the termroaming refers to either the updating of number information when aterminal device moves from one country to another, or the functionalityof a service number when the service is used from a different country tothat in which the service provider is located. Operators haveconstructed varied and complex solutions, by means of which services canbe made to function also in other operators' networks and number spaces.In practice, this leads to complicated mutual agreements on the jointuse of specific numbers, for example, by routing messages coming to thespecific number of another operator back to the operator owning thenumber.

For years, attempts have been made to harmonize numbers on a Europeanlevel, but the competing operators have never reached agreement ongeneral service numbers. A additional drawback of the present technologyis that, in the solution, the connection equipment inside the network ofone operator should be connected with the corresponding connectionequipment of all the other operators of networks (point to point). Thiscreates a large number of agreements and connections from one place toanother. Therefore in practice such solutions only function between afew operators.

The message bulk-delivery systems according to the prior art are thusimplemented on a telephone-operator-specific basis, in such a way thatthe ‘sender’ field of the messages has shown the operator's own number,which as described above is not a roaming number. The services havetherefore not functioned outside the own country. Such a system is notsuitable for query dialogues of a demanding type, as the use of the‘reply function’ has always returned the messages to the same number andthen only if the subscriber has been in their home network.

Attempts have also been made to solve the problem using tailor-mademodem banks, but these solutions have been slow, expensive, and evenunreliable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is intended to eliminate the defects of the prior artdisclosed above and for this purpose create an entirely new type ofmethod for combining text and voice messages in a communicationsdialogue.

One preferred embodiment of the invention concerns applying theaforementioned method to the bulk delivery of messages, and providingthe invention for international use.

The invention is based on receiving, in the message dialogue, a voicemessage (voice-call or VOIP connection), from the user of the messageservice, at the message's sender address defined in the previous stageof the dialogue, or at an address contained in the message, andproceeding according to the contents of the message. If necessary, thesession's next text-form message is sent to the user of the messageservice, in such a way that the sender address (e.g., the A number) isaltered to correspond to the session number and new session stage.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the desired replyaddress of each bulk-delivery message, typically the sender information,is altered to correspond to a predefined dialogue, in which the stage ofthe dialogue defines unequivocally the sender information, in which casethe sending and reception of messages is implemented in different partsof the telecommunications network.

Considerable advantages are gained with the aid of the invention.

The voice-message possibility according to the invention createsflexibility in the dialogue, but does not, however, break the flow ofthe logic of the dialogue. Flexibility can be implemented in a veryuser-friendly manner, in which case text-form messages are used to routethe sound-message queries to precisely the correct and free recipient,at its best in such a way that the respondent will know both the callerand his dialogue, and even the stage of the dialogue, so thatunnecessary connections that waste the user's time will be avoided, andalso the capacity of the messaging network will be saved.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are operator independent andfunction in the networks of all operators. The most typical applicationsof the invention function in any gsm-customer's telephone in anynetwork. The invention provides a cost advantage on the sending side dueto bulk sendings and, nonetheless, the reception functions completelycountry independent, that is completely roaming in respective operator'snetwork.

In the following, the invention is examined with the aid of examples andwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows schematically a solution according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a solution according to a preferredembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows schematically information fields in a message according tothe invention.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of a solution according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1, according to the prior art, telephone operators A and B havetext-message bulk-delivery means 3 in their own networks, by means ofwhich each operator can effectively deliver large numbers of textmessages. In the solution shown, each operator has a service number 20relating to the joint message service arranged agreement and connectiontechnically, which is not available to operators outside the agreement.According to the prior art, the service number 20 is a non-roaming shortnumber.

In the system according to FIG. 2, there are typically two parties,which in exceptional cases can be the same company.

The service providing service company or association 1, which providessubscribers 8, for example, with booking services for buying tickets,changing tyres, etc. The service company or association 1 operates in aradio network, the home network 13 of some operator.

In the present application, the term service company or association 1refers to an association or company, which operates in either its own oran extraneous telecommunications network, and produces either directlyor indirectly services for customers. Such a company or association istypically a sub-contractor of an actual telephone operator, nor does auser of the service necessarily even know of the existence of theservice company or association 1. In a preferred embodiment of theinvention, the service company or association produces either directlyor indirectly many kinds of booking and reservation services fortelephone subscribers. The invention can also be used within a singleassociation.

The system also includes a telephone operator 2, in the network 14 ofwhich there are means and equipment for the bulk delivery of digitalmessages containing sender information (such as SMS messages). Such apractical network element is, for example, SMS bulk-delivery logic 3,which can be implemented, for example, using Content Gateway technology.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, in the first service stage the servicecompany or association 1 uses combination logic 9 and number conversion4 to form a large number of messages 40, each of which containsrecipient information 30, the actual message 31, and information 32 ofeither the sender or in practice the address, to which a reply to themessage 40 is desired. In an SMS (Short Message System) application, therecipient information 30 is a mobile-station number and the senderinformation 32 is the sender information in the sender field 32 of theSMS message altered using a number converter 4.

Within the scope of the invention, the message 40 can be any messagewhatever that can be sent through a digital information network, whichcomprises recipient information, the actual message, and information onthe desired reply address, for example, in the form of senderinformation. Such message 40 can be besides SMS messages, for instance,e-mail messages, or, for example, multimedia messages (MMS).

A large number of the aforementioned messages can be formed dynamicallyon the basis of complex dialogues. Corresponding, for example, inemergency applications, the message totality can be static and ready foran emergency situation.

In the conversion of the desired reply address, for example of thesender's number, it is possible to take into account the address (ornumber) from which the connection to the service company or association1 has been formed. In this way, it is possible to route the messages ofsubscribers 8 in the USA to their own national server, andcorrespondingly the messages of Finnish users of the same service totheir own national server. From these national servers, the replymessages can be transferred over suitable telecommunications links tothe service company or association 1 for further measures.

The messages formed by the service company or association 1 are sent tothe bulk-delivery logic 3, which is located in the operator's 2 network14, from where the bulk delivery 5 of the messages is implemented. Fromhere the messages 40 disperse always according to the recipientinformation 30 and arrive at the subscriber's 8 terminal 7 through thesubscriber's 8 radio network 6 at the time. The subscriber 8 can replyto the message using the ‘reply’ function, in which case the replymessage is sent to the address that is defined by the value of thesender or reply-address field 32. The message 40 leaves to the servicecompany or association 1 through radio networks 12, 11, and 13.Naturally, if the subscriber 8 is within the area of the home network 13of the service company or association 1, the message will not travelthrough the networks 11 and 12. From the home network 13, the message istransferred to the reception 10 of messages for the service company orassociation, where it is combined with a suitable dialogue with the aidof combination logic 9 and number conversion. In practice, networks 13and 14 may be the same thing.

More concretely, for example, in an SMS application, when a message issent to the subscriber 8, the sender's number (A number) is convertedbefore bulk delivery in block 4, for example, to +358500001 in the firststage of a predefined session (dialogue). The number space of thesender's number (A number) is defined by the service provider's 1 ownnumber space, which in the invention is entirely independent of thenumber space of the sending operator 2. In the following stage of thesame session, the A number is, for example, +358500002, guided by thelogic 9 of the service company or association 1, and so on. The sendingA number is tightly defined from a logically progressing dialogue formedby the service provider 1, in which the reply to each message sent isawaited at a specific telephone number (digital reply address), which iscontained in the message sent as the A number.

Thus, the subscriber replies to the SMS message using the replyfunction, so that in the first stage of the dialogue the reply goes tothe number +35800001 and correspondingly in the second stage of thedialogue to the number +3580002.

Example of dialogue:

Message Sender's number 1. Do you need to book a time for tyre +35850001changing, reply Y/N 2. Is 07.12.2005 suitable, reply Y/N +35850002

With the reply ‘Y’ of the subscriber 8 the system of the serviceprovider sends a message 2. The dialogue terminates, if the reply to thefirst message is ‘N’. In stage 2, the reply ‘Y’ leads to the time beingbooked, whereas the reply ‘N’ leads to a new booking proposal.

According to the invention, the system can route a message to thesubscriber (user) 8, in the content of which there is a telephone numberready for a voice message. This information can also be converted as thesender information of the message, i.e. the converted A number. Thuseither of the numbers is selected in such a way that when the subscriber(user) 8 makes a voice-message call (voice call or VOIP connection) tothis number, the system sends to the recipient of the call theinformation on the sender, for example, on basis of the A number, and inaddition also of the information relating to the stage of the dialogue,in which case the person replying to the voice message will know notonly the identity of the subscriber (user) 8, but also what the callconcerns and the dialogue will continue logically.

The messages described above are, thus, sent as a bulk delivery tohundreds/thousands of recipients at one time and the A number (=field32) of the first stage of the dialogue would then always be +35850001and correspondingly in the second stage of the dialogue always+35850002, so that the reply to each message sent will always betargeted to the right number. In connection with the reply, the A numberof the sender 8 is, in turn, defined by the person for whom the bookingis made.

According to FIG. 4, the method according to the invention isimplemented as follows:

The long, logically continuous, temporally discontinuous session N isimplemented as follows. The session N is divided in to sub-stages J (43,41, 42), which are typically temporally separated from each other. Theactual session N is, however, logically continuous, in other words thequeries and replies proceed logically for the entire duration of thesession.

The service relating to the session N is started in block 43. The firsttext-form message of session N is then sent to the user of the service,in such a way that the sender address (e.g. the A number) is convertedto correspond to the session number N and the session stage J.

In block 42, the stages 2-n of the session N are depicted, in which atext-form message is received, from the user of the message service, atthe sender address defined in the message in the previous stage, and thesession then proceeds according to the content of the message, in such away that the sender address (e.g. A number) is converted to correspondto the session number N and the new session stage J. Next, the followingtext-form message of the session N is sent to the user of the messageservice.

According to block 42, an additional stage according to the invention isimplemented in such stage of the process, in which a voice message(voice call or VOIP connection) is received, from the user of themessage service, at the sender address of the message defined in themessage in the previous stage, or at an address contained in themessage, and the session then proceeds according to the contents of themessage, as either a new voice message (voice call or VOIP connection),or as a text message. Several consecutive voice messages (voice call orVOIP connection) belonging to the session N can also be controlledaccording to the invention, according to a logically continuous,temporally discontinuous session N.

After this, if necessary the following text-form message of session N issent to the user of the message service, in such a way that the senderaddress (e.g. A number) is converted to correspond to the session numberN and the new session stage J.

According to the invention, a preferred embodiment is an SMS message,but according to the invention the message can be some other digitalshort message, in which it is possible to reply to the message, withoutseparately defining the recipient. Thus the sender or reply-addressfield (field 32 in FIG. 3) can contain, instead of telephone-numberinformation, the desired reply address in some other form, for example,as an e-mail address, or as numeric or alphanumeric sender orreply-address information.

Thanks to the number conversion, the message is typically received in anopen radio network external to the network of the operator 2, which sentthe message, and is routed on the basis of the A number to the system ofthe service company or association 1.

Thus, in the invention, in an SMS application, before bulk delivery theinformation of the ‘sender’ field of the text message is changed, insuch a way that a different value is written in it to what the sender'snumber is in reality. This value is obtained from the logic 9, 10 of theservice company or association 1, according to a predefined rule, insuch a way that the queries and replies arriving in the logic can becombined.

In addition, in the system of the service company or association 1 thereis logic 9 connecting the sending end and the receiving end, which cancombine a sent message and its return message arriving from anextraneous operator 2, in such a way that the subscriber can reply (fromoutside the network) from any subscription whatever, but, however, thesending can take place from inside the network using a large capacityand economically. I.e. it is possible to select the cheapest sendingoperator, but receive from anywhere in the information network.

According to the invention, at the receiving end of the messages it ispossible to disperse reception, in such a way that, for example, inSweden reception takes place in a local network element and in Finlandcorrespondingly in a Finnish network element, from which nationalnetwork elements the received messages are transferred using suitableconnections, for example, an IP link, to the system of the servicecompany or association, for further processing. Thus the internationalroaming of the service is faster and cheaper, as well as more reliable.In addition, the use of the service is more pleasant for the consumer,because sending takes place to the number of a local operator, and notto the network of a foreign operator, which is considered to beexpensive. In some subscriptions, a foreign message is even blocked, i.emay not function without the service according to the invention.

One application of the invention is described in the following:

There are thousands of experts, who are needed in various catastrophe oremergency situations, or in other unexpected situations, where there isan acute need to have a large number of experts acting simultaneously.Often the situation is such that personnel is required in severallocations simultaneously, in which case the emergency control room willsend messages concerning several locations. The personnel required thenreceives the message, using the system according to the invention, intheir telephones and each recipient replies to the message that seemsmost appropriate. Thus the emergency control room can decide on thebasis of the replies who to send to which operation and in which area.

For example, after an earthquake an emergency control centre sendsmessages to thousands of emergency-aid specialists, using bulk-deliverylogic, stating that help and expertise are required in Area 1, Area 2,and Area 3. When an emergency-aid specialist receives these threemessages through his own operator, he can reply to the message that isthe best alternative for him. The reply from the expert leaves through aradio network to the number defined by the message as an individualmessage through the service company or association 1 to the emergencycontrol centre. Once the replies have been received, the server of theservice provider 1 can combine the information on which expert is goingto which of the areas 1-3. Thus the emergency control centre can actimmediately and get the necessary personnel and equipment rapidly totheir destinations.

In the above application, it is also possible to the user of thesubscription to be given a possibility to use a voice message accordingto the invention.

One application according to the invention is also the creation of alink to a person who travels globally in the service of an internationalmajor corporation. Large corporations typically have their own messagecommunications centres, responding to the messages sent by which isdifficult using existing technology, because if, for example, anAmerican receives a group message from his company when he is in India,the ‘reply’ function cannot be used to reply to the message, becauseusing existing technology there is a non-international number in thesender field. According to the invention, problems relating to bothinternational roaming and also the further processing of the reply tothe message are solved.

If, according to what is stated above, a person who is a subscriberwishes to reply only to telephone numbers with the code of his owncountry, the service provider can send from its own country groupmessages as a mass sending, in which the number of the sender isconverted to an internal number of the recipient's country and therecipients can reply in their own area, without international numbers.In that case, the service provider will require servers in the countryin question. Reply messages from the country-specific server aretransmitted, for instance, over an IP connection to a server in theservice provider's country, in which there is combination logic.

In the above application, it is also possible to the user of thesubscription to be offered an opportunity to use a voice messageaccording to the invention.

In the invention, a number external to the network is thus convertedinto the sender's identifier (=the desired reply address), so that itmust return through the radio interface of the network. Thus in thereply situation the message is not routed directly to a service numberinside the network, but instead through a radio interface outside thenetwork, so that it roams automatically. For this operation, in onepreferred embodiment of the invention there is thus not the short number16400, but instead the fully roaming international number +358 5016400.

According to the invention, for example, a thousand messages are sent atone time using a bulk-sending application 3, in such a way that eachindividual message is given converted sender information for the replymessage, so that the return messages arrive at different times (aspeople gradually reply) through several radio modems, so that themomentary capacity required for each radio modem will be small. However,the operation of services outside the service provider's home country,i.e. roaming operation, is achieved with the aid of the invention.

In this application, the term sender information refers to both atelephone number (A number) and to any information whatever, transportedwith a message, concerning the desired return address.

The method and system according to the invention are implemented, withthe aid of at least one computer, in a telecommunications network.

The preferred application environment of the solution according to theinvention is disclosed in publication WO 2004/019223, Booking System,messages sent by the system applied to which can be implemented usingthe mass-sending method according to the present invention.

1. A method for sending messages in a session to a user of a service, ina telecommunications network, in which method; delivering a firsttext-form message of the session N to the user of the service, in such away that the sender address corresponds to the session number N and thesession stage J of the session, receiving a text-form message at thesender address defined in the message in a previous stage, and whereinthe session proceeds according to the contents of the message, whereinin some stage of the session N, a voice message is received, at thesender address of a message defined in the message in a stage, or at anaddress contained in the message, and the session proceeds according tothe content of the voice message.
 2. A method according to claim 1,wherein if necessary, the next text-form message of the session N issent to the user, in such a way that the sender address corresponds tothe session number N and the new session stage J.
 3. A system forsending messages in a session to a user of a service, in atelecommunications network, comprising; a service operator configured toexecute the steps of sending a first text-form message of the session Nto the user of the service, in such a way that the sender addresscorresponds to the session number N and the session stage J of thesession, receiving a text-form message at the sender address defined inthe message in a previous stage, and wherein the session proceedsaccording to the contents of the message, wherein in some stage of thesession N, a voice message is received, at the sender address of amessage defined in the message in a stage, or at an address contained inthe message, and the session proceeds according to the content of thevoice message.